SYNCHRONOUS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does synchronous mean? 

• SYNCHRONOUS (adjective)
  The adjective SYNCHRONOUS has 2 senses:

1. occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase

2. (digital communication) pertaining to a transmission technique that requires a common clock signal (a timing reference) between the communicating devices in order to coordinate their transmissions

  Familiarity information: SYNCHRONOUS used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SYNCHRONOUS (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase

Synonyms:

synchronal; synchronic; synchronous

Context example:

synchronous oscillations

Similar:

coetaneous; coeval; contemporaneous (of the same period)

coexistent; coexisting (existing at the same time)

co-occurrent; coincident; coincidental; coinciding; concurrent; cooccurring; simultaneous (occurring or operating at the same time)

contemporaneous; contemporary (occurring in the same period of time)

parallel (of or relating to the simultaneous performance of multiple operations)

synchronic ((of taxa) occurring in the same period of geological time)

synchronised; synchronized (operating in unison)

Also:

synchronic (concerned with phenomena (especially language) at a particular period without considering historical antecedents)

Antonym:

asynchronous (not synchronous; not occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase)

Derivation:

synchroneity; synchrony (the relation that exists when things occur at the same time)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(digital communication) pertaining to a transmission technique that requires a common clock signal (a timing reference) between the communicating devices in order to coordinate their transmissions

Antonym:

asynchronous ((digital communication) pertaining to a transmission technique that does not require a common clock between the communicating devices; timing signals are derived from special characters in the data stream itself)

 Context examples 

Patients with asynchronous tumors have a better prognosis than those with synchronous osteosarcomas.

(Asynchronous Multifocal Osteosarcoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A statistical model used to assess the probability that an individual carries a germline deleterious mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, based on family history of breast and ovarian cancer, including male breast cancer and bilateral synchronous and asynchronous diagnoses.

(BRCAPro, NCI Thesaurus)